Knight of the Citadel
by DeadMansBell
Summary: What would happen if what Revan found in the Unknown Regions was the Mass Effect Galaxy instead of the Sith Emperor? What if Revan started the Jedi Civil War to prepare the Jedi and the Republic for the Reapers and planed to use the Star Forge to help Commander Shepard? Obviously AU. Takes place after KotOR and during ME2 and ME3. Some Carth/F!Revan, but mostly M!Shepard/F!Revan
1. Prologue

_**Since I've been on a story posting spree, I decided to clean up the first chapter of an Crossover fic I had started as well. This is one I actually remember the direction I'd been going, so I figured I'd give it a shot. **_

_**The premise is: What would happen if what Revan found in the Unknown Regions was the Mass Effect Galaxy instead of the Sith Emperor? What if Revan started the Jedi Civil War to prepare the Jedi and the Republic for the Reapers and planed to use the Star Forge to help Commander Shepard? **_

_**This will take place primarily after KotOR1 and during Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. I haven't yet decided if I'll involve the Exile or any characters from KotOR2.**_

_**Female Light Side Revan (as far as KotOR1 is concerned at least) and Male Paragon Shepard with Spacer and Sole Survivor Background.**_

_**The more reviews I get the more I'll update xD**_

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**Prologue**

At first, things seemed nearly perfect.

After the destruction of the Star Forge, Silke Riese, the former Darth Revan, finally seemed to have earned a break. She and Carth Onasi were married in a small but lovely ceremony. The Jedi did not approve, but there was little they could do to prevent it. The couple settled down in a small apartment on Coruscant, ready to just enjoy each other without the weight of the galaxy resting on their shoulders.

Of course it didn't last. She had nightmares-memories, almost every time she laid her head down, after only two short months she began acting differently, more withdrawn than ever before. The first night the changes began she had woken up sobbing, startling Carth awake at her side.

"He's dead," was all she said. When he pressed her for more, she stubbornly refused, shutting down and staying silent. Every memory that came before she had told him of, let him comfort her, but not this time. Not anymore. They were finally starting to make sense. No longer fragments of what seemed to be pointless cruelty. Anything she told him of this memory she would defend, and that frightened her. "I'm not Revan," she had claimed to her friends and to herself, "Never again." She had been so certain then, so positive that she couldn't possibly fall into the same mindset ever again. But here she was, starting to relate with the cold calculating woman from her memories, starting to understand. He would reject her if she ever admitted to it, so she kept her silence. Carth would never understand, of that she was certain. Eventually they returned to sleep and in the morning she faked a smile and assured him half-heartedly that all was well.

The next worrisome memory came three weeks later and they argued.

"I broke my promise," she told him when he asked what was wrong. Again he pressed and again she refused to explain herself, but this time she eventually did say something else.

"I should have never allowed the destruction of the Star Forge."

He was understandably appalled by her train of thought and it showed in his response, "That thing was an atrocity. You did the right thing and you know it, don't start doubting yourself now."

Frustration crossed her face as she darted from the bed and began to pace like a caged animal. "You don't understand at all!" she accused, "The Star Forge was our best hope for survival. Better to sacrifice a few to save the many."

"This isn't like you, Sil," his tone was gentle, as if trying to calm a wild beast. Maybe that was exactly what he was doing, after all, that was how she felt at the moment.

Her lips peeled back in a sneer as she looked at him. She was done pretending. At first she had been so afraid to lose him, now she could think only of how she resented him. How he'd kept her from doing her duty and kept her from holding to her promise to the man who showed her what the biggest threat to her galaxy truly was. She wasn't the woman he'd met on Endar Spire any longer, and she intended to make that clear to him, "No, you're wrong. This is exactly who I am."

Carth's eyes narrowed and it was quite obvious to her that he was trying not to be angry with her, to stay the level-headed one so that they could work through this. "You said yourself that you weren't Revan any longer," he reminded her the strain in his voice quite clear.

She laughed, a bitter and self-deprecating sound before she informed him in the coldest tone she could manage, "Those were words spoken out of ignorance. I can remember almost everything now. What I did, why I did it."

This time anger did enter his tone, "You regret nothing now? Is that it?"

A cruel smile curved her lips. She knew he was thinking of Telos, but she wouldn't tell him that what happened wasn't under her order. That Malak had lost his jaw for his disobedience. She didn't want him to come after her, and hopefully hatred would be enough. She would give him an honest answer, however, "I regret that I did not kill Malak the first time he went against me. He allowed the Star Forge to corrupt his mind and lost sight of our mission. Perhaps he was right in calling me soft. If I hadn't gone easy on him and spared his life he would of never had the chance to betray me; to ruin everything we'd been working towards."

He struggled with that, trying to come up with a response before finally adverting his eyes, "Perhaps I should leave then."

She chuckled at that, but it was a hollow sound. "There's no need. Stay here, make the Republic strong as possible. If I fail, the galaxy will need every ounce of strength you can muster. There's a far greater danger out there than any Dark Lord of the Sith."

And with that she turned and left, grabbing only a cloak on her way out.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, the main reason I took so long getting this out is because of work and college which will always limit the time I can spend on this story. The other part of what took me so long with this chapter was deciding exactly how I wanted to go about this story and how I wanted make the SW and ME timelines match up. So here I want to let you know how this will work.**

**As far as the timelines are concerned, right now it's pretty simple. All I'm doing is condensing the events of the Jedi Civil War into two years rather than three to allow it to line up with the time in which Shepard was "dead" more smoothly. I might end up doing something similar with the Dark Wars timeline, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.**

**For those of you who have read "Revan" by Drew Karpyshyn, you'll probably see some references to certain events/details (-cough-Revan's mask-cough-), but obviously this is completely AU since the big bad is the Reapers, not the Sith Emperor and my Revan is female. **

**Anyway, on with the story. Oh! And a big thank you to Micheal 13, 1010 -ERROR- FILEINACCESSIBLE, ThatOneGuyNotRea, YOURLORDANDMASTEROFINTERESTI NG, and badkidoh for reviewing and to everyone who has favorited and followed this story. Also, more reviews would be greatly appreciated so I know what I'm doing well and what I need to improve, I don't bite... unless asked :3**

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_**2183 CE**_

_**The Normandy SR1: One Month after the Battle of the Citadel**_

_Revan sat comfortably on her perch near the Commander's quarters on the Crew deck where Kaidan once upon a time could of been found working. The ship was on its early morning rotation, and it was just about the time that Shepard got up to do his rounds. She would be leaving with Malak today, and she just wanted one last conversation with him to before they departed. An amused smirk curved her lips behind her mask as she watched the Asari scientist exiting the room, her clothes a little rumpled looking. Liara didn't seem to notice her at first as she headed towards the her room behind the med-bay. _

_Revan stood from her perch, the movement startling Liara into stopping. "Is he decent or should I wait a few minutes?" she asked, fighting the urge to chuckle as the other woman stumbled over her words. _

_"He is," Liara finally managed to mumble, every inch of skin flushed in embarrassment._

_Revan nodded her head and started moving forward, "Thank you, Dr. T'soni." She watched out of the corner of her eye as Liara hurried off before stepping into Shepard's room. "I'm glad someone's enjoying himself," she teased, amusement in her tone as she pulled of her mask. It was unnecessary here. Shepard was in a similar position in his galaxy that she was in hers. He needed reassurances from the invincible Revanchist as much as she needed it from the Hero of the Citadel. _

_"Someone has to," he jabbed back as he sat back in his chair, leaving the datapads he'd been looking through ignored on his desk once more. "I've never seen a woman dodge affections more than you do. I actually feel sorry for Malak sometimes."_

_She frowned a bit at his words. They'd argued this point several times since she'd first explained the jedi to him, and he'd seemed even more insistent when he'd discovered she was a woman. "We both still follow the Jedi code even if we are no longer a part of the Order. Love-" she told him carefully, earning only a rolling of eyes as he cut her off, "-leads to the dark side for 'force-users' like you and Malak. Yes, so you've told me several times. I still don't quite believe it, but you didn't come here to debate that with me again, did you?"_

_She sighed softly and nodded her head, "We're set to leave, I just wanted to say my farewells." _

_He grinned at her sullen expression. "Aww, is the great Revan going to miss us?" he asked, only to chuckle and hold up his hands when she glared at him, "Easy, easy, no need to go killing me with your mind or anything."_

_Shepard's expression hardened as he took the conversation into more critical territory, "In all seriousness, do you really think this ancient relic of yours will help?"_

_"Less relic and more massive ship building weapon. I know how to find it, all I have to do is learn how to make it operational. If I can gain control of it, the tides will turn in our favor," she told him confidently, "But even if I fail, we need my galaxy to start preparing, maybe in time even sending some ships and jedi. I hate to be a pessimists but if your galaxy falls, mine is next."_

_Two hours later Revan was aboard her own ship with Malak once more, ready to set course back to the Hoc System in the Sentry Omega Cluster where the strange green glowing mass relay connected into an identical one in their own galaxy. Before they could even jump to the next cluster, however, they were receiving a distress call from the Normandy. Revan arrived in time to collect the escape pods, but the attacking ship was long gone._

_To say she was upset was an understatement. Liara was devastated when she discovered the final escape pod only contained a single sullen Joker and no Commander. Revan was livid. Her tightly controlled emotions let loose for the first time in longer than she could remember._

_"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" She'd snarled, violet lightsaber drawn. Shepard wasn't just the first human Spectre or a skilled Alliance Marine any longer, and she realized what advantage that had been. He was a Hero and Savior to this galaxy. He was something to rally an army around like she'd been against the Mandalorians. _

_Someone twisted her arm behind her back and yanked her away from the pilot, her lightsaber dropping to the ground, deactivated. She was surprised to find Ashley was the one restraining her. She'd expected Malak. After seeing her on the battlefield most were weary of her close combat skills, and that was doubly true with Shepard's crew, who's closest comparison to force-users were biotics. But the Gunnery Chief didn't hesitate and was stone-faced with control that put Revan to shame. The former jedi pulled away without a word and hooked her saber back to her belt before exiting the room._

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She didn't wake up crying this time. Partially she thought it might be because Revan was becoming the dominant personality again. Cold, calculating, controlled Revan. Not playful, noble, empathetic Silke Riese. But mostly it was because she was just growing numb to the particular memory. It was the one she woke to most often. It had shaken Revan to her core then, and it tore out Silke's heart now. Her subconscious really was a masochistic thing, even if she didn't really know who she was any longer, it kept replaying the memory that could torment both sides of her personality.

She twisted onto her side and peered over at the wedding ring and mask she kept on her nightstand. It had become even more difficult to reconcile Revan and Silke after she'd gotten Bastila to return Revan's mask. When she'd left Carth she'd lied, though she hadn't realized it at the time. She was still Silke, for the most part. She'd only remembered small bits and pieces. Enough to know Revan's motivations and plans and empathize like Silke always did, but not enough to be that woman again. The mask changed that. Everything came rushing back at once, all the missing pieces. Everything that made Revan who she was. Some memories were still foggy, not as crisp as others, but they were there again.

With a soft sigh she got herself up and cleaned. She'd have to dock at the Citadel in an hour. She was flying in the Valkyrie again for the first time since she left the Milky Way galaxy two years ago. It was a large infiltrator class starfighter with a class 4 hyperdrive that had been modified to make it through the mass relay, then modified further with Alliance tech before she'd left. Hopefully it would be recognized and she'd be permitted to dock without issue.

She dressed in the black and copper colored armor she'd worn as Revan and looped her wedding ring on a chain she put around her neck. With the mask and armor she should be recognized. She'd sent a message to Councilor Anderson as soon as she was through the relay. If all went as planned she'd be able to meet with him promptly and get a recap on everything that's happened since she'd left.

Before she'd left her galaxy, she had met with Canderous and did what had to be done to insure that he would become the next Mandalore. It was laughable really, when she thought on it. She was too much of a coward to tell her husband the truth of things, but she was completely comfortable telling Canderous everything. Well, everything that she'd remembered at the time, anyhow.

If things went as planned, the Mandalorians, the Republic, and the Jedi would all have strong leaders who could prepare them for what was to come. That was really all she could do for them now. She'd already wasted two years with the Jedi Civil War and now had less than she started with. It was time for her to do what she could on the other side. Hopefully the Citadel Council had more luck than she had in preparing for the Reaper Invasion. Unfortunately, without Shepard she somehow doubted that.

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For once things were going as planned. She had a bit of a rough start at the security scan, but a Captain Bailey had been rather helpful in sorting things out. Once she arrived at the Presidium, she was seen into the human Embassy immediately and brought to Anderson without any jedi mind tricks.

"I was told to anticipate your return, but I have to admit I had been expecting it a lot sooner," he commented as he led her over to the railing to talk.

"I know. It's a long and complicated story that would take hours for me to explain," she told him as she folded her hands neatly behind her back and stood straight. She'd met Anderson two years ago briefly, but it had always been Shepard who'd done the talking then. This was the Commanders world, so to speak, she'd just been relieved that she didn't have to lead for the short time that she'd been there. She trusted the Councilor because Shepard did, and she sensed that Anderson had similar feelings on about her, "Judging by the fact that security seems more concerned about Geth than Reapers, I'd have to assume preparations haven't gotten very far?"

He sighed and leaned against the railing. "With the immediate threat gone, the rest of the Council is convinced that the Reapers were just a fabrication made by Saren to get the Geth to follow him," he told her, "I can't get them to budge an inch on the matter."

"Politians can be stubborn as hell, as always. Has there been any Reaper activity?" she questioned as she moved to look out over the Presidium with him.

"I can't be certain if there's Reaper involvement, but entire human colonies have been disappearing without any sign of a fight. Some intel suggests Cerberus is involved, and another source tells me it's the Collectors and their working for the Reapers."

"Collectors? I never encountered that group while I was here last. Who or What are they?"

"It's a reclusive group of aliens with extremely advanced technology. No one knows much about them, but they have a reputation for trading technology for living beings in odd numbers and varieties," he explained before suggesting, "Williams is currently stationed at our colony on Horizon setting up a new defense system. If you want to find out what's going on, your best bet is to start there."

She narrowed her eyes on him behind her mask."There's something you're not telling me," she stated rather than asked. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was off.

He didn't try to deny it, "I'm sorry, it's classified. I've already told you more than most non-alliance are permitted."

She watched him for a moment before nodding her head in understanding. Anything else she'd have to find out on her own.

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**A/N: Okay guys, on one final note I'm giving you all the chance to decide something via votes. What class should Shepard be? Right now I'm leaning most heavily towards Infiltrator or Soldier, but I'm also considering Vanguard. Whichever of these three Classes gets voted the highest is what he'll be, so let me know xD**


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